In 1992 and 1996, Bill Clinton lost the male vote. Women put him over the
top. More women vote than do men, with women accounting for 53 percent of
the electorate. Smart politics, therefore, dictates paying attention to
"women's issues."

Eric Smith, an official with the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, says, "We are very confident that we have the right message and
the right candidates for the American people." This translates into
Democratic calls for things like a patients' Bill of Rights, more gun
control legislation, "saving" Social Security by increasing taxes, and
expanding the already counterproductive role of government in health care.

But there's a problem. Women know less than men about political issues,
economics, and current events. Good news for Democrats, bad news for
Republicans. For the less one knows, the easier the manipulation.

A study at the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania confirmed
women's lack of knowledge of the issues. Researchers asked 25 questions
about candidates and specific issues during the recent primary season.

Questions concerned campaign finance reform, gun control, taxes, foreign
policy, defense, as well as questions about the candidates' positions. Men
knew more than women in 15 categories. Women outperformed men on only one
question!

University of Pennsylvania researcher Kathleen Hall Jamieson said, "The
perplexing finding that women do not perform as well as men on political
knowledge still persists in the year 2000." Jamieson found women more
ignorant than men, irrespective of age, race, income, education, marital
status, or party identification! Why? Women, more so than men, get their
news from local television. "Local news-watching makes you dumber," said
Jamieson.

Al Gore's response to the recent rampage shooting at the National Zoo
serves as a case in point. Within hours of the shooting, the vice president
called for further gun control legislation, including mandatory safety
locks. Never mind that Washington, D.C., makes it illegal to own, let alone
carry, a handgun in the city. But Gore's appeal, pure emotion, sounds
virtuous. And never mind studies showing that those living in high crime
areas most desperately need guns for self-defense. "The basic problem is
they don't get guns away from people likely to misuse them," said Gary
Fleck, professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State
University.

Even researcher David M. Kennedy of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of
Government is skeptical about calls for greater gun control regulation.
"They're not just publicity stunts. People really want these things to work,
and a lot of people think they ought to work. Unfortunately, they probably
don't." But emotion works. And a fact to an emotional liberal is like
kryptonite to Superman.

Why does the Democratic message of Big Government welfare-state "soak the
rich" socialism work? Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman once said,
"The argument for collectivism is simple if false; it is an immediate
emotional argument. The argument for individualism is subtle and
sophisticated; it is an indirect rational argument."

So the Republicans face a dilemma in attracting female voters. Opposition
to tax, spend, and regulate requires an understanding of the benefits of the
free market, as well as the relationship between high taxes and low
productivity. Republican opposition to regulation requires an understanding
of the unintended negative consequences of government market interference.

"Democrats are betting that Republican opposition to the legislation on
intellectual and philosophical grounds will serve only to anger voters in
those groups," writes Investor's Business Daily's Peter Cleary. So, says
Cleary, enlightening female voters turns them off!

This raises a disturbing question. Democrats claim a desire to improve
education. But poor-performing schools produce people incapable of critical
thinking, a condition helpful for the Democrats to run their emotionally
driven, but often unsound policies. Teachers' unions -- major Democratic
Party constituents -- battle efforts to improve education, such as vouchers,
linking teacher pay to merit, or student and teacher testing.

In fact, in California, a group of parents and teachers -- The Coalition
for Educational Justice -- complained about student testing. One teacher
called the requirements that students test for promotion "racist,
class-biased, and bad educational policy." Oh.

Given how easily politicians manipulate the less-informed, do the Democrats
really want a smarter electorate?

Frankly, it serves Democrats' interests to keep voters as ill-informed as
possible. As House Majority Leader Dick Armey puts it, "Republicans believe
what they see, Democrats see what they believe." Or to paraphrase a
well-known politician, "It takes a village," -- of ill-informed
voters.

JWR contributor Larry Elder reads all of his mail. Let him know what you think by clicking here.